Bangladesh mutineers name tycoon with Pak links

The first signs of a Pakistani footprint is showing up in the bloody mutiny that shook Bangladesh this week.

As mass graves continue to spew forth more bloody tales - 10 more bodies have been recovered, bringing the toll to 76 - what is emerging slowly is a larger design behind the apparently senseless killing over the past couple of days.

The preliminary interrogation of some of the rebels has thrown up the name of Salauddin Qadeer Chowdhury, a well-known shipping magnate and reportedly very close to the Pakistan military-intelligence complex and the opposition BNP. According to sources monitoring the situation, about one crore taka has already changed hands to help the mutiny along.

Chowdhury, a close associate of opposition BNP leader Begum Khaleda Zia, was closely connected to the Chittagong arms drop case of April 2004 - the arms were apparently intended for ULFA. The ships were caught carrying the arms.

Salauddin Chowdhury, belonging to an old Chittagong family, has been close to Pakistan for decades.

Trouble continues to brew in Dhaka, where the army cadres, particularly mid-level officers, are spoiling for a fight with the Bangladesh Rifles (BDR) cadres. So far, the Bangladesh army leaders, led by army chief Moeen Ahmed, have kept the officers in check, which is making the present situation slightly different from 1975.

According to the fire service operations chief, Sheikh Mohammad Shahjalal, 50 officers are still missing. "We have so far removed 10 dead bodies. They are badly decomposed and many are mutilated," he said. "They not only shot them dead but some bodies were badly mutilated with bayonets," Shahjalal said.

It is increasingly clear that the chief targets are the army chief Moeen Ahmed and prime minister Sheikh Hasina who, reports say, has been moved to an army guest house for her personal safety.

In fact, a number of plots are surfacing, all intended to create confusion while the real targets would have been attacked.

Sources are also pointing to the scale of the brutality of the murders, the mutilations, etc, which they say are tell-tale signs of the Islamist ideologies that have infiltrated the lower cadres of the BDR, thanks to their extensive Jamaat-e-Islami and Jamaat-ul-Mujahideen Bangladesh (JMB) connections.

Behind the mutiny is the war crimes tribunal that Sheikh Hasina promised to set up for the trial of Pakistani collaborators or razakars from the independence war. This had created trouble inside Bangladesh and Pakistan as well.
In fact, Pakistan president Asif Ali Zardari sent an emissary to Sheikh Hasina, Pervez Ispahani, to persuade her to put off this trial as it could embarrass the Pak army considerably.

After the dust has settled down, Sheikh Hasina and Ahmed are likely to launch a purge of their own in the army, which is likely to create its own tensions. In any case, it promises to keep Sheikh Hasina off balance for a while, as Bangladesh joins other tottering nations on India's periphery.

Mumbai attack chargesheet nails two Pakistani Army officials

Pakistan Army Terrorist Chief Training Pakistani Terrorist & Jihadi

A colonel-rank official and a civilian — both with the Special Communication Organisation operating under Pakistan’s Ministry of Information and Technology — have been named for facilitating the Voice Over Internet Protocol (VoIP)-aided communication the 26/11 attackers had with their handlers in Pakistan. They are among the 35 wanted listed in the chargesheet filed by Mumbai Police.

The Mumbai Police Cyber Crime Cell tracked the two officials — Colonel R. Saadat Ullah and Khurram Shazad — during their search for Kharak Singh, the name used to open a VoIP account with Callphonex, a US-based service provider. The account was opened on October 21 and 22, 2008. On October 27, an initial payment of $250 was wired to the account via Moneygram. The moneygram agent, Paracha International Exchange, was traced to Lahore.

A second payment of $229 was made on November 25, a day before the attackers reached Mumbai, via Western Union Money Transfer agent Madina Trading, Brescia in Italy. The sender was one Javed Iqbal who’d provided his Pakistani passport for identification.

During investigation, it came to light that the communication with Callphonex was made using the e-mail ID kharaktelco@yahoo.com. The ID was accessed from at least 10 Internet Protocol addresses. It is from one of these that the cell traced the location of Saadat Ullah and Shazad.

Another supposed Pakistan army official was identified by the pseudonym Major General Sahab. Arrested Lashkar-e-Tayyeba operative Ajmal Amir Kasab and Indian LeT operatives Fahim Ansari and Sabahuddin Mohammad identified the Major as the one involved in training LeT cadre engaged in anti-India operations. JCP, Crime, Rakesh Maria said efforts were on to identify that official.

Furthermore, the chargesheet has ruled out the possibility of local or underworld connections to the attacks, as suspected by some quarters. It also clarifies that all the attackers were fidayeen and had no plans to return to Pakistan.

Though 12 different FIRs were registered in connection with the attacks, the police filed one consolidated chargesheet after clubbing all the offences. “All these offences are part and parcel of one broader conspiracy and, therefore, we have filed one consolidated chargesheet”, Special Public Prosecutor Ujwal Nikam said.

The chargesheet outlines in detail how LeT bosses across the border hatched a conspiracy, trained 32 cadre and selected 10 for the attacks, then retrained them. It talks about how the 10 reached Mumbai on November 26 after hijacking the fishing trawler Kuber and how they wreaked havoc across the city for the next three days.

Mumbai terrorists trained by Pakistan Army, Navy instructors: Report

Pakistan Army a Terrorist Organization
he ten terrorists involved in the Mumbai attacks were among 500 men trained to "elite" commando standards by the Pakistani Army and Navy instructors and were directly supported by the ISI, a media report here said on Sunday.

The Indian intelligence have the names of the 26/11 terrorists' ISI trainers and handlers and have intercepted internet phone calls between them, The Sunday Times said.

Quoting sources close to the Indian intelligence, it claimed that another attack before next year's General Election would make war inevitable between the two countries.

The Indian intelligence claimed the terrorists involved in the Mumbai attacks were among a large group of volunteer "fidayeen" or suicide attackers trained in commando tactics by the Pakistan Army and Navy instructors over 18 months from December 2006.

"The training of these 500 men was in three phases. The first was basic physical fitness and firearms training. The second was marine navigation and swimming. The third involved training to sabotage underwater installations such as oil rigs, ships and submarines," one official was quoted as saying.

"They were trained to a level of US Seals or Pakistani marine commandos. They were elite. Ten of these men were the ones who attacked Mumbai."

If true, this training would have been in addition to later preparation said to have been given by Lashkar-e-Taiba, which is suspected to be behind the attacks. The militant group was created with ISI support in the 1990s to operate in Afghanistan and Jammu and Kashmir.


Pakistan Terrorist Army Paksitan Terror Goverment Pakistan Terrorist Agencies ISI AtTerrorist Outfit Paksitan Terror Citizens Pakistan A Terrorist country Pakistan Terror police

Bangladesh, a safe haven for Islamic Terrorist and insurgents

For the first time since 1992, Bangladesh Rifles handed over to India three Bodo insurgents sheltered in Bangladesh. But as foreign secretaries of both countries meet in New Delhi on Thursday, India has made clear that patience is running thin in Delhi over Dhaka's attitude of staying in a denial mode over most of the insurgent groups are operating freely from inside Bangladesh.

After the May 2008 Jaipur blasts, the August 2007 blasts in Hyderabad and the Mecca Masjid bombing it is clear Bangladesh is not only becoming a safe haven for the terrorists but also a hideout for insurgent groups from Northeast India, a part of the country which continues to simmer as separatist militants flex their muscle from Dhaka

The main guys are never caught. Even their presence is denied,” says Former Chief of RAW, Vikram Sood.

CNN-IBN has access to the latest list of nearly 100 Indian insurgent camps, hideouts and safe houses in Bangladesh, which was given to the military government in Dhaka recently.

The document clearly shows that the United Liberation Front of Asom (ULFA) leads the pack of separatist groups that operate from Bangladesh from the heart of capital Dhaka.

ULFA has hideouts in places like Ansumoy Hotel in Dhaka's posh Gulshan area to districts like Hobigunj, Khagracheri - is where ULFA's top leadership including self-styled Commander-in-Chief Paresh Barua escaped an assassination attempt - Moulvi Bazar, Mymensingh, Bandardarban, Chittagong Hill Tracts and Cox's Bazar.

The group also maintains seven active training camps across Bangladesh

While Paresh Barua is hiding in Bangladesh, the chief arms procurer for the Naga insurgent outfit-NSCN (IM) is also there.

That means that despite the 11-year-long ceasefire with India, the National Socialist Council of Nagalim led by Thuingaleng Muivah still maintains two active training camps in Khagrachari and Bandarban.

According to this secret interrogation report sent in January by the Additional Director General, Punjab Police, Babbar Khalsa militants were in regular touch with the NSCN-IM rebels in Nagaland for procurement of weapons. Which means that the outfit has been actively involved in the business of illegal weapons, in clear violation of ceasefire ground-rules.

Apart from the ULFA and NSCN(IM), most guerilla outfits from Northeast India are sheltered in Bangladesh from People's Liberation Army from Manipur to All Tripura Tigers Force to the National Liberation Front of Tripura to United Achik National Front.

India alleges Indian insurgents based in Bangladesh are getting help from Islamic fundamentalist groups. Sources say that many Islamic radical groups, like the Harkat-Ul-Jehad-Al_Islami (HUJI), have set up their training camps along with some of the insurgent training camps.

ISI smuggling opium into India from Pakistan: NCB

Pakistan ISI Drug Smugglers

Pakistan's Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI) is helping drug peddlers smuggle opium into India through the border, a senior official of the Narcotics Control Bureau (NCB) said on Thursday.

"Afghanistan continues to remain a source of over 90 per cent illicit opium in the world. More than 55 per cent of opium in India originates from Afghanistan and is smuggled from Pakistan with the support of the ISI," said NCB deputy director general Om Prakash.

Prakash, who was speaking on the release of the annual report of the International Narcotics Control Board (INCB), said: "We have specific leads about the role of the ISI in smuggling drugs to India." However, Prakash did not give further details.

On an average, about 2,000 kg - or teo tonnes - of opium poppy is seized annually in India.

The report released by the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) also found that India is one of the largest illicit producers of cannabis in South Asia.

"Although law enforcement authorities in India regularly eradicate large areas of illicitly cultivated cannabis plants, a significant amount of cannabis still finds its way into the Indian market," the report said.

Shalini Dewan, director of UN Information Centre for India and Bhutan, said: "Another trend we have found is the diversion of pharmaceutical preparations, especially cough syrups, from illicit manufacturers in India to neighbouring countries."

India produces over 10 per cent of the world's pharmaceuticals and though the law regulates cannabis production and sale, there is still a need for monitoring compliance with the law.

"Even by the most conservative estimates, there are over 10 million drug users in South Asia and at any given point of time 0.6 million substance users require treatment," said Ashita Mittal, officer-in charge, UNODC.

The report found that the HIV transmission rate is still high among people who abuse drugs by injection in South Asian countries.

"In India, the prevalence of HIV infection among injecting drugs users in 2006 was estimated at a national average of 8.71 per cent, compared with 0.36 per cent in the general adult population," the report said.

26/11 attackers' training ground unearthed in Pak

Pakistani news channel Geo TV has uncovered the training grounds of the terrorists who attacked Mumbai in November 2008.

The channel claims to have found out the training ground and the house that Mumbai attacker Mohammad Ajmal Amir Kasab and his partners used for training.

The area where the terrorists trained is situated about 100 kilometres from the India-Pakistan border.

Geo TV traced the isolated building in Dori which could have been the training ground for the 26/11 attackers. The door is bolted at present, but inside there are unmistakable traces of people living.

Blankets and mattresses lie scattered while Islamic literature is stacked in order and in one corner a shelf full of medicines is stored.

It seems as if is Pakistan has gone back to speaking in two voices over the Mumbai terror attack issue.

Pakistani media reports that government sources are saying none of those named by Islamabad in the 26/11 case have been arrested.

The sources say that they are in custody - which in Pakistan's case usually means house arrest.

Delhi has repeatedly called all those under house arrest as guests of the state.

This new contradiction will make it difficult for India to figure out what to believe and moreover who to believe.

Paksitan Citizens Terror : "Our citizens did it", Pakistan finally admits

Pakistan Lies Nailed : Pakistan Cunningly Hides Role Of Terrrorist ISI & Army.

For the first time ever, Pakistan has arrested six people for a terror attack on the basis of information supplied by India. Islamabad has announced that six people — including “mastermind and leader” of the 26/11 terror strikes, Zaki-ur-Rehman Lakhvi — were in its custody; the attackers had sailed from Karachi; and part of the Mumbai conspiracy had been hatched in Pakistan. Cracking 26/11

India’s external affairs ministry said the Pakistani response was a positive development.

Security czar Rehman Malik announced in Islamabad on Thursday that an FIR had been registered by the Federal Investigation Agency against eight accused on charges of “abetting, conspiracy and facilitation” of a terrorist act.

Apart from Lakhvi, five others — Hammad Amin Sadiq, Zarar Shah, Mohammed Ashfaq, Javaid Iqbal and Abu Al-Qama — are in Pakistani custody.

Given that the FIR was registered only on Thursday, the “formal arrests” of the accused will follow.

Rehman revealed that Iqbal, who set up an internet telephony account used by the Mumbai terrorists, was “lured” from Barcelona in Spain and arrested.

There were other links — to the United States, Middle East, Italy and Russia — that needed more investigation.

“Some part of the conspiracy has taken place in Pakistan and ... according to the available information, most of them (the suspects) are in our custody,” Malik said.

According to him, the Mumbai attackers used three boats to reach Mumbai from Karachi. Apart from Al Husseini, another boat, Al Fauz, was used, Malik said, adding that the crew was common.

The interior ministry chief, in response to a pointed question, conceded that some of the accused were associated with the Lashkar-e-Tayyeba, the group held responsible for the terror attacks by India.

Malik claimed that one of the terrorists involved in the February 2007 Samjhauta Express bombing was also involved in carrying out the Mumbai attacks.

He wanted additional help and evidence from India and said Pakistan would continue to probe while it awaited results. He said Pakistan was yet to be provided with the DNA of the surviving terrorist, Ajmal Kasab, and the photographs of the other terrorists were not recognisable.

“This is a genuine request we are making,” Malik said while asking India for additional help. “We are not transferring responsibility, we just want cooperation and help.”

“We have located those locations which were used by the terrorists before launching themselves…They had some kind of training, they went into ocean,” Malik said.

“Some of the accused who have been arrested, they have given us the full rundown,” the Pakistani official said, confirming earlier reports in the Western press that persons such as Lakhvi and Zarar Shah were “singing”.

Malik, who made no reference to the role played by Lashkar chief Hafiz Saeed, insisted the 26/11 attacks were the work of individuals.

India and Pakistan, he said, had to work together to deal with the problem of terrorism. “We want information from India to prosecute the accused successfully,” he said. “We want to bring them to justice and set a precedent.”

He said the details of the probe had been shared with Indian high commissioner Satyabrata Pal. A formal “progress report” was also to be given to Pal, Malik said.

Al-Qaeda-Pak nexus clear as Yazid threatens India

A top al-Qaeda commander, who was reported killed in a US drone strike last year, has appeared in a video warning India of more Mumbai-style terror attacks if it tried to attack Pakistan.

"India should know that it will have to pay a heavy price if it attacks Pakistan," Mustafa Abu al-Yazid, believed to be al-Qaeda's military commander in Afghanistan and ranked behind No. 2 Ayman al-Zawahiri, said in a 20-minute video in Arabic received by BBC.

Yazid, who the Pakistani military said may have been killed in fighting last August in the Bajaur tribal region, said, "The Mujahideen will sunder your armies into the ground, like they did to the Russians in Afghanistan. They will target your economic centres and raze them to the ground."

Yazid denounced the ban on militant groups in Pakistan following the Mumbai attacks and asked the people of Pakistan to rise up and overthrow the government and President Asif Ali Zardari, the BBC reported.

The al-Qaeda leader is said to have been involved in a number of terror attacks, including last year's Danish Embassy bombings, in Pakistan and had claimed the responsibility of assassinating former Pakistani prime minister Benazir Bhutto.

He was last heard in August 2008 when he confirmed the death of al-Qaeda chemical-weapons expert Midhat Mursi al-Sayid Umar.

Angry Poland accuses Pakistan of Fostering Terrorism

Poland has joined the ranks of countries accusing Pakistan of inaction, if not outright complicity in terrorist activity, following the beheading last week of a Polish national by the Pakistani Taliban.

In a furious response that has stunned the international diplomatic community, Polish justice minister Andrzej Czuma on Monday blamed Pakistan's ''apathy'' in tackling terrorism for the killing of a Polish geologist who was kidnapped by the Pakistani Taliban from Attack town in Punjab.

"The structure of the Pakistani government is behind this apathy. The Pakistani authorities encourage these bandits," Czuma told a Polish news agency, even as the horrific killing recalled the similar beheading of Wall Street Journal reporter Daniel Pearl.

The minister’s outburst stunned his own colleagues in the diplomatic circuit who are a little more circumspect in public about Pakistan’s reputation as a haven of terrorism. ''It was unnecessary honesty, it sent shivers down my spine when I heard Minister Czuma speaking,'' Pawe? Gra?, a member of the Polish parliament's Special Services Committee and Czuma's party colleague told the Polish media.

However, so great is the outrage in Warsaw over the brutal killing that the Poland's Senate speaker has called off a visit by his Pakistani counterpart this week.

Speaker Bogdan Borusewicz said Tuesday his decision is not an unfriendly gesture toward Pakistan but was made after taking into consideration ''the situation in which our countryman was murdered.'' Other European countries also expressed revulsion at yet another beheading in Pakistan.

Meanwhile, according to reports in the Polish media, the State Prosecutor's Office in Cracow, formally investigating the incident, would like to secure the original tapes containing a seven-minute film showing the Pole's execution. For now, a Foreign Ministry spokesperson said, it has only received a digital copy.

"We don't want a digital copy because it may have been tinkered with,'' said Prosecutor Marek We?na at the Organised Crime Bureau, State Prosecutor's Office in Cracow. He said the persons who had taken part in the negotiations would be asked to testify. It is also possible a Polish prosecutor will go to Pakistan to secure potential evidence there.

The Polish case offers Pakistan yet another opportunity to prove its bona fides in the war on terror amid continuing questions in the international community about its seriousness. Whether it is the Mumbai carnage or the London subway blasts or the beheading of Pearl and now of Piotr Stanczack, Pakistan has not distinguished itself with its dodgy investigations seemingly aimed more at protecting the perpetrators rather than bring them to justice.

Many of the accused in such incidents, including Omar Saeed Sheikh, Zaki-ur Rehman Lakhvi, Yusuf Muzammil, and Zarrar Khan are reported to be ISI assets who live under the intelligence agency’s protection, while Pakistan’s civilian dispensation drums up red herrings while privately pleading it is not fully in control of the agency or that it has been infiltrated by rogue elements.

With its constant denials, fudging and prevarication, Pakistan’s government has laid itself open that it is complicit in such acts of terrorism. There is immense distrust among the U.S and its allies about Pakistan’s intelligence agency ISI and how far it is in cahoots with the jihadis it fostered for long.

Pak-Origin British Nationals as terrorists, Biggest threat to US: Report

In a bid to prevent a Mumbai-like massacre on American soil, the CIA is said to have launched a vast spying operation in Britain as it suspects that British terrorists of Pakistani origin are the biggest threat to US.

According to the CIA, which has recruited a number of informants in the Pakistani community, a British extremist of Pakistani origin entering the US is the most likely source of a terror attack on America, Britain's leading newspaper 'The Sunday Telegraph' reported.

A former CIA officer who has advised President Barack Obama, told the British newspaper that the agency has in fact stepped up its efforts after the Mumbai mayhem "laid bare the threat from Lashkar-e-Toiba", the militant group which has an extensive web of supporters in UK's Pakistani community.

"In the aftermath of the Mumbai attack the US and the UK intelligence services now have to regard Lashkar-e-Toiba as just as serious a threat to both of our countries as al-Qaeda. They have a much more extensive base among Pakistani Diaspora communities in the UK than al-Qaida," Bruce Riedel said.

AQ Khan set free: Pakistan Nuclear Theif threat to world security

Pakistan Nuclear Terrorist :Abdul Qadeer Khan

In a development which is sure to raise international concern over the loose nukes in Pakistan, the architect of Pakistan's nuclear bomb and the man responsible for leaking nuclear know-how to countries like North Korea and Iran, A Q Khan, was declared a "free man" by the Islamabad high court on Friday. India reacted swiftly by describing his release as detrimental to global peace.

Khan, a poster boy for many jihadi groups, had virtually been under house arrest for several years and this development, according to some media reports in Pakistan, is a result of the nuclear scientist negotiating a clandestine settlement with the civilian government. Khan had been desperately seeking withdrawal of the restrictions placed on him by Pervez Musharraf since the former president and army chief relinquished power.

Khan, as he told reporters after his release, can now not just move around freely in the country but also carry out research activities. Khan is extremely popular with Islamic extremists, including Al Qaida, all over the world and has been hailed for the creation of the first Muslim nuclear weapon state in the form of Pakistan.

In fact, more than 100 jihadi groups who had assembled in Muzaffarabad three days ago for a meeting had demanded Khan's release. Khan's associate and Pakistani scientist Bashiruddin Mehmood has admitted that he had met both Osama bin Laden and his No.2 Ayman Al Zawahiri. Osama is said to have acquired fissile material through these scientists.

India's minister of state for foreign affairs Anand Sharma described the development as a hindrance for global peace and security. Sharma insisted that this was another example of Pakistani deception. "Pakistan has deceived India again by setting Khan free," he added.

Khan had taken responsibility for leakage of nuclear secrets in 2004 after which Musharraf placed him under house arrest even as he said that he had pardoned the scientist.

The US last month had slapped sanctions on 13 individuals and three private companies for their involvement in the clandestine nuclear proliferation network run by Khan. "Khan, who is currently under house arrest, led an extensive international network for the proliferation of nuclear equipment and know-how that provided one stop shopping for countries seeking to develop nuclear weapons," the state department had said on January 13.

After his release, Khan said he was not bothered about what the US, India or Pakistan thought about him. On being asked about the threat from India, Khan said Pakistan's armed forces were capable enough to deal with any threat.

Mumbai attackers 'creations of Pakistan ISI' : A Terrorist Organization

Paksitan Terrorist Organizations ISI & Paksitan Army

Describing "organisers" of Mumbai and Kabul embassy attacks as "clients and creations" of Pakistan's ISI, India has said those behind the carnages are known to prepare for strikes across the world and cautioned against any "compromise" with such forces.

India also indicated its opposition to the sale of arms to Pakistan by the US and others in the name of fight against terrorism and extremism, saying such supplies were "totally unrelated" to objective meant for and rather act as "whisky to an alcoholic, a drug reinforcing an addiction".

Addressing an international conference in Paris on Wednesday, foreign secretary Shivshankar Menon said "we, in India, are next to the epicentre of international terrorism in Pakistan."

India has "directly suffered the consequences of linkages and relationships among terrorist organisations, their support structures, official sponsors and funding mechanisms, which transcend national borders but operate within them," he said in a clear reference to Pakistan.

"Any compromise with such forces, howsoever, pragmatic or opportune it might appear momentarily, only encourages them," Menon said at the Institute Francais des Relations Internationales (IFRI).

Referring to the Mumbai terror strikes and the Kabul embassy attack last July, Menon said "in each case, the perpetrators planned, trained and launched their attacks from Pakistan, and the organisers were and remain clients and creations of the ISI."

The foreign secretary said two months after the Mumbai attacks and one month after India presented a "dossier of evidence" linking the attacks to elements in Pakistan, "we still await a response from the Pakistani authorities, and prevarication continues".

Describing the "polity beside us" as "fragile and unfinished", Menon said "there is much that the international community can do to help.

"For instance, arms sales to Pakistan totally unrelated to the fight against terrorism or extremism are like whisky to an alcoholic, a drug reinforcing an addiction, skewing the internal political balance and making the consolidation of democracy more difficult."

This was apparently a message to the US and some other western countries which are selling arms to Pakistan in the name of fight against terrorism.

Underlining that India was seeking a peaceful periphery in "our own interest", he said New Delhi will work with all those in Pakistan and the international community who further that goal.